Posts Tagged “AIG”

  • President-elect Barack Obama will make his first-ever visit to the White House today when he meets privately with President Bush for the traditional first visit between America’s leader and his predecessor.  Security will be particularly tight for the visit, as unconfirmed reports suggest Bush may try to escape and leave Obama in charge…
  • One of the things the pair will certainly discuss is the nation’s economic woes, which today includes news of electronics giant Circuit City’s bankruptcy filing and the report of a record aid package to AIG–who already had received $80 million in federal loans.  Obama may use the opportunity to press for an additional stimulus package, which Bush may agree to–just as long as it doesn’t mess with Cheney’s golden parachute package…
  • The newly-revised US-Iraq security pact no longer contains language that authorizes a request for US troops to stay beyond 2011, as well as additionally instituting a ban on cross-border attacks from their soil.  My only question–how long will it take for another revision, begging us to stay until 2011…
  • Markets in Asia soared in response to the news that China has implemented its own ambitious stiumulus package, boosting government spending on roads and other infrastructure, tax incentives for exporters, more aid for farmers and the poor, as well as greater investments in health and education, environmental protection and high technology.  Premier Wen JiabaoW said that their actions, "are not only the needs of the development of ourselves, but also our biggest contribution to the world"–in other words, "maybe you won’t notice us taking Taiwan back"…
  • A new study suggests that some headphones, like the earbuds so popular with iPod and other music player users, can interfere with heart pacemakers or implanted defibrulators if placed very close to them–like in a shirt pocket.  Researchers caution that the danger is only from the powerful magnetic substance inside the headphones–a Nano in your pocket doesn’t mean you’re really glad to see the Maker…
  • The latest update on the census of life under the sea, being compiled by over 2,000 scientists from 82 nations, has included a number of exciting discoveries–both of new varieties of sea life, as well as previously-unknown enviromments for some species.  The photo is of a variety of male sea spider that is very possibly a newly discovered creature–and one that has absolutely no chance of landing on your face in the middle of the night…
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  • John McCain and Barack Obama took to the debate stage for the second time Tuesday night in Nashville, and more or less took turns taking shots at one another.  Basically, we learned that each of them plan to do exactly what all of us want them to do, and the other guy is responsible for everything that’s messed up in the country now…
  • Wall Street continued its worry about America’s economy with a sell-off that sank the Dow another 500 points and set off a chain reaction around the world, including a nearly ten percent decline of Japan’s Nikkei Index–the largest drop there in a decade.  I’m tellin’ ya, that Mattress Stuffing Fund is looking like a smarter investment every day…
  • Former AIG CEO's Robert Willumstad (left) and Martin Sullivan (right) swear they didn't know how big a crook the other was.Officials of AIG Insurance–who averted a collapse thanks to an $85 billion federal loan–testified before a Congressional committee Tuesday, where they were asked about a corporate retreat held at an exclusive California retreat just a week after their federal bailout–at a cost of nearly a half-million dollars.  Those executives testifying claimed they had no idea it had occured–and are probably ticked off that they weren’t invited…
  • Vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin surprised reporters on her campaign plane Tuesday when she joined them to answer a few questions, explaining her comments about Barack Obama’s relationship with one-time anti-war radical (and now respected university professor) Bill Ayers as a question of Obama’s judgement, then claiming "nobody has anything to hide" regarding her and huband Todd’s Troopergate controversy (see below) in Alaska–despite the fact that both refused to talk to investigators about it.  So were the heels off and the gloves on, or the other way around?YouTube Preview Image
  • An artist's rendering of the Phoenix Mars Lander, who may end up an orphan if Congress intervenesOfficials at NASA are worried that the Mars Science Labratory mission is in jeopardy, as total costs for the program are expected to run over budget by at least 30 percent, which would permit Congress to intervene and shut down the entire project on its own.  It could be that the future of the whole effort will not literally but definitely figuratively end up on another planet…
  • Scientists from the US and Japan have won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for their discovery and development of a jellyfish protein.  This breakthrough has wide-reaching possibilities–not only has it helped other scientists understand how cancer spreads, it’s provided sushi chefs with a really cool new ingredient…
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